About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.
Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.
We employ 900 staff along with PhD students and volunteers in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.
This is an exciting time to join the Museum as we have secured investment from the UK Government to build a new science and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park, University of Reading. The purpose-built centre will house much of the Museum's collection and will include laboratories, digitisation suites, collaborative research spaces, conservation labs and workspaces
About the Natural History Museum at Tring
The Natural History Museum at Tring was once the personal collection of Lionel Walter, the second Lord Rothschild. Upon Lord Rothschild’s death in 1937, the Museum and his collections were presented to the Nation to become part of the Natural History Museum.
The Museum is a hidden gem, with over 4000 specimens on display, the NHM bird collection onsite and a historic building. Set in Tring, Hertfordshire the Museum is a national museum on a local scale. We welcome 150,000 visitors a year and 8,000 school students. We aim to provide an inspiring and excellent experience for all visitors.
Diversity and inclusion matter to us.
Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new collegues who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.
We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.
Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.
We are ambitious. To make a difference on a global scale we are big and bold in our thinking and set goals which may seem impossibly high. We act with integrity, but we are not rigid or inflexible. We are excellent at what we do and look for opportunities to make a difference for the Museum wherever we can.
We are curious. We never stop learning. We look outwards beyond the Museum and ask questions to advance our understanding. We seek out and actively listen to different perspectives. We take time to reflect, are thoughtful and open to new ideas.
We share the wonder. We are captivated by the natural world, proud of our treasures and trusted guardians of our collections. We are passionate about the Museum, enjoy telling its stories and sharing our knowledge and expertise to inspire others. We don’t take this for granted; we feel proud to work here.
We are pioneering. We are not afraid to try something new and use good judgment and evidence to take risks. We experiment, innovate, and embrace complex problems by adapting our approach. We do not dwell on setbacks or get preoccupied with problems. We find solutions.
We team up. We respect the expertise of others and recognise that we produce the strongest outcomes when we put the best ideas together. We trust each other, keep things simple and make it easy for others to do the right thing. We share information and skills so everyone is equipped and enabled to succeed. We never let bad moments grow into bad relationships. We inspire and empower each other to give our best.
We act with pace. We focus our efforts where we know we can make the biggest impact. We take tough decisions and once a plan is set, we all get behind it to make it happen. We take responsibility and don’t wait to be told what to do. We are racing against time in this planetary emergency, so we work with a sense of urgency
Volunteer Expenses & Reimbursement
We recognise your significant contribution as Museum volunteers and realise it is essential to ensure that you are positively supported whilst offering your valuable time to us on a regular basis. We are committed to providing rewarding experiences for you and will endeavour to help during your time as a volunteer with us.
As part of our volunteer offer and reward system volunteers will be reimbursed a maximum of £15 per week for one full day or more (5-7 hours total per week). Alternatively, if you are a recipient of free travel, we can offer you lunch expenses three times a week up to a maximum of £5 per day (still £15 maximum per week).
NB The Volunteer Programme best supports those who can offer one day a week for an extended period of time and the reward system reflects this. Please note that £15 is the maximum claim per week and this does not increase with a more demanding schedule. Travel claims must be for the cheapest fare available to your destination.
Additional Benefits
As a Museum volunteer you can receive:
